Electrician help needed

[MLimpert]

I just bought my first house and I'm doing some renovations and getting every thing working right. I have a light switch that the previous owner says controlled one plug on an outlet in the living room. To make a long story short, the switch doesn't work the outlet. The switch is not a standard switch, and it doesn't appear to have wiring on it that would handle its rated load of 500 watts. The switch box has some odd wiring in it, and I'm confused. There is a red wire in addition to the standard black and white wiring. Between the red and black wire in both the switch box and on the plug I measure 30 volts ac. The black and white wires have around 118 volts or so on them.



Here are some pictures - any info would be appreciated.

 

[MLimpert]

By the way, the bottom picture is the plug this switch is supposed to control. As you can see it also has an odd red wire connected to it. All of the other plugs in this room and throughout the house only have standard black and white wiring.

 

[nickleinonen]

while i can't help on the electrical problem...

congradulations on the first home. . i put money down on a brand new home [my first home] last month that will be completed next year. .

gonna look like this one
-

 

[gregdoerfler]

yes that is correct wiring,the switch which looks like a dimmer to me is probably bad. change it out to a regular switch. the little brass tab should be broken off between the 2 screws on the hot side of the plug correct?

 

[MLimpert]

Congrats to you as well Nick! I was literally a phone call away from building a new home. I had everything picked out, but there was one problem... There wasn't enough money left over for a proper outbuilding. I'm gonna throw a building up as soon as I can with the money I saved buying this 27 year old house. Good luck with your new house! (I'll have to post a pic of mine too)



Does anyone know what the 30v that is in this box is or where its coming from? Should I wire the new switch in exactly as the old one was on these 30v wires? I think I'm going to try it tomorrow and see if I release any magic smoke from the wiring.

 

[rbattelle]

The 30v you're seeing might be potential between a hot line and the open air. Try this: go to any outlet in your house and plug your voltmeter into just one side. Leave the other probe out in the air. You'll read something between 10v and 90v (depending on the circuit). At least, I know you will if you're using a true RMS meter (I'm not sure what non-RMS meters read in this case).

That suggests to me, then, that either the red or black wire is actually dead and the other one is a hot pole.

AC house wiring can be confusing (at least, I sometimes get quite confused with it!). I've found this book to be valuable for figuring out how things are wired. Available at Lowes, Home Depot, everywhere.

I wish I could be more help, but since I'm not an electrician I find it difficult to diagnose wiring problems without actually being present and measuring things myself.

Ryan